133 - The chapter where Alicia doesn't give up

Christian

I left the chemistry building after I finished my class, walking towards the art building. It was already Friday and we were going to start our move to the house that had already been painted in the last few days. Rose had sent me a message letting me know that she had stayed late in class to finish a painting. Since I had forgotten to get my key in the morning I decided to go get it and wait for us to go home together.

I walked through the campus in a nonchalant manner until someone started walking beside me, hurrying their steps to keep up with me. I looked away out of the corner of my eye, turning back to look straight ahead, not bothering to say anything to Alicia. I'd done a good job of avoiding running into her that week, and the fact that we were so busy painting and cleaning the house contributed greatly to that fact.

" Are you going to ignore me? " she tried to get my attention.

I stopped walking, taking a deep breath before turning towards her. Will she never give up?

" What do you want, Alicia?”

" Chris, I know things are a bit awkward, but if we can just talk...”

" We can't! " I cut her off.

" But…”

" Alicia, leave me out of this. I've had enough of being part of this crazy competition between you!”

" Competition? Is that what you think this is about? " she gave me a hurt look.

I snorted, looking around. I didn't want anyone to see me standing there talking to her, especially after everything that happened.

" I know that's what this is about. And you want to know how I know that? You didn't give a shit about me until you suspected she was interested. But guess what, I'm already tired of this ridiculous rivalry between the two of you, so don't get me involved, because I'll always choose her " I pointed, before walking back, hoping she would leave me alone.

Which obviously didn't happen. She hurried back to keep up with me, not seeming willing to let that subject go.

" Now you're going to tell me you've fallen in love with her? Please, you can't spend half an hour in the same room without fighting! " She stopped walking, raising her voice a little.

" That may be, but I'd rather fight with her than be with any other girl." I ended the conversation, leaving her behind.

I couldn't understand her need to beat Rose at everything, but I certainly wouldn't be part of this dispute anymore. It took me a few minutes to reach the arts building, dodging some late students who were walking through the corridors towards the exit until I reached the room where Rose was, slowing my steps when I heard her voice sounding disinterested while talking to someone.

" Look, I don't understand why you guys are so angry…”

" Don't you? Rose, you told us he was gay! " Another girl complained, making me smile slightly as I understood what was going on.

I moved slowly, watching Rose with her back to me, washing some brushes in the sink while two girls stood next to her and didn't look happy at all.

" 'Yeah... I kind of lied about that,” she shrugged, not bothered by the looks she got from the girls.

" Why?”

" Isn't it obvious? We weren't exclusive, I didn't want to share but I didn't want to give it away. It's quite simple for me,” she shrugged.

They seemed about to retort when one of them noticed me, nudging the other who started to concentrate on her brushes, looking baffled that I had heard part of the conversation. Before Rose could notice me, I clasped my hand in a handful of her hair, tilting her head back. The gesture might have seemed a little crude, but I knew what she liked, and the smile that appeared on her lips before I kissed her proved it.

Rose kept her wet, ink-stained hands away from me, sighing as I broke the kiss and pulled away. The girls had moved away, focusing on putting away their own stuff.

" Are you ready to go?”

" One second and I'll finish putting everything away. Then you can carry it all for me without complaining like the good boyfriend you are." She quipped.

I raised both eyebrows as I stared at her, giving her a silent answer.

" Okay, you can complain a lot while carrying everything, I've already learned to ignore you," she winked at me making me smile.

" I'll wait for you in the hallway," I said, picking up my phone to answer a message from my sister.

I just want to know that we can count on both of you, your parents will be here and I'm sure everyone will be happy if she participates.

Once a year my parents and a few other members of the motorcycle club came to celebrate the anniversary of the Minneapolis branch, which my sister attended. And that year the party would coincide with the start of our spring break.

I might even talk her into it, but I'm sure she'll want us to go on Brigitte, Beebee.

It's a motorcycle club event, you need to be on a bike

" Shall we? " Rose caught my eye.

I reached out to her, interlacing our fingers, taking her bag with her painting supplies before smiling, leading her down the hall.

" Beebee wants to know our answer about March.”

" On Spring Break? Aren't the guys organizing a camping trip to the Grand Canyon? You seemed excited for that " she frowned,

" I know, it'll be our first spring break as a group and... I thought we could do both," I blurted out, "that's a big event in the motorcycle club too.”

" What are you suggesting? " she asked.

" We leave on Friday, spend the weekend in Minneapolis, and on Monday we meet up with the others and head to the Grand Canyon," I proposed, "You could ask Sky to take Brigitte there.”

Rose frowned, thinking about what I was proposing before tilting her face to look at me.

" If it's so important to you, we can go,” she winked to my satisfaction.

We walked for a few minutes in silence, until her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. she picked it up, sighing after reading a message.

" We have to buy cigarettes for Liam, he's out.”

" Again? we bought them two days ago! " I complained.

" And we need beer too " she huffed " we'll buy it on the way.”

We left the building, walking towards the dorm. We would start to take our stuff to the house, and we would already spend our first night there. I couldn't help but feel excited about this change, especially when I realized that from that moment on we would have our freedom for real. And yes, if you stopped to consider our situation, you could even say that we were one step away from living together.

" 'I was thinking, what do you think about helping me make dinner tonight? " I proposed, receiving a surprised look.

" Are you serious?”

" Why the surprise? " I frowned.

" "The last time we cooked together you caught on fire and I gave you an ice bath after burning your hand." She pointed with amusement.

" Come on, I know we can do well today," I insisted, receiving a restrained smile in return.

We stayed in silence until we left the building, just enjoying each other's company until Rose spoke up again.

" You know, it's been a big surprise for me since we took over everything.”

" What's a surprise? " I frowned.

" 'The fact that you're no longer an asshole to me 95% of the time we spend together and you want to do these cheesy clichés, like cooking together,” she explained.

" I told you, I like being cheesy with you. But if you want, I can go back to being an asshole.”

I stopped walking, turning to face her, Rose raised her face to watch me, looking pleased with the expression on my face.

" 'You never stopped being one,” she returned petulantly.

" 'Do you want me to stop? " I moved a little closer to her, with a half smile as I looked into her eyes.

" No, I like you being an asshole 83.4% of the time," she scoffed.

" That was a specific number " I laughed before leaning in, taking the opportunity to kiss her.

" We better go, we're going to have to make at least two trips to get all the stuff to the house " she smiled with her mouth still on mine before pulling away.